A new paper from the National Bureau of Economics focuses on whether there are aspects of the health insurance market that add to premiums by creating significant inefficiencies in finding…
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Fall looms and brings the football season. Our Potpourri scores with nutritious bites of health information, including getting more genetic data into medical records, giving doctors price lists, the value…
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An Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality technology assessment examines health risk assessment tools, finding that while there are a number of studies, the overall quality is poor and the…
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The medical home concept lumbers on, sometimes mixed in with the accountable care organization notion. The current status of the concept and issues affecting its ultimate impact are assessed in…
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The Food & Drug Administration releases its strategic plan for regulatory science, identifying priority areas and implementation strategies for each. How the FDA carries out its strategy over the next…
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A dazzling review of recent research and other health related nuggets is presented in this latest Potpourri, including potential problems with evidence-based medicine, physician dilemmas in controlling cost, workers' compensation…
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The application of theories of consumer buying behavior to Medicare Advantage indicates that having too many plan or benefit design choices may create harder decision-making for seniors, especially those with…
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Two reports from the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality detail the use of expensive cancer biologics for Medicare beneficiaries. As for other payers, Medicare expenditures on these compounds has…
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A paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research examines the effect of a physician pay-for-performance program in Canada. The study found very limited effects of the incentives in spurring…
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CMS currently intends to implement its readmissions penalty/incentive program in a manner that may not truly distinguish between good and poor quality at hospitals, according to recent research in Canada…
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Summer begins to wane but our Potpourri remains hot, with items on large employers benefit intentions for 2012, Australia's project to create a unified patient medical record, hospital collections at…
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A report from The King's Fund articulates the benefits of shared decision-making and provides a detailed roadmap for how to effectively implement its use more widely. A great deal of…
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An issue brief from the Center for Studying Health System Change reviews the potential effects of increasing employment of physicians by hospitals. While there may be benefits in terms of…
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It is often observed that more financially well-off persons tend to have better health than their poorer counterparts. Teasing out whether this is correlation or causality that runs in one…
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About this Blog
The Healthy Skeptic is a website about the health care system, and is written by Kevin Roche, who has many years of experience working in the health industry. Mr. Roche is available to assist health care companies through consulting arrangements through Roche Consulting, LLC and may be reached at khroche@healthy-skeptic.com.